Moms Clean Air Force Launches Climate Initiative in California

(Los Angeles –
June 24, 2013) – Today Moms Clean Air Force (MCAF) launched an initiative to
engage Latino parents and families on the issue of climate change and community
resiliency in Southern and Central California. MCAF has tapped José
Sigala, a well-respected community organizer in the Los Angeles area with over
20 years of advocacy and political experience, to lead the effort. Sigala joins
a vibrant, rapidly growing national organization that to date has over 140,000
members.

Los Angeles and
the Central Valley are home to the dirtiest air in the country, according to
the American Lung Association. Rising temperature from global warming only
exacerbates this already poor air quality. These regions are home to an
overwhelmingly large Latino population, in some cities reaching as high as 75
percent of all residents.

Sigala will
reach out to Latino parents—in English and in Spanish--about the connection
between global warming and the health and safety of their families. He will
also be developing conversations about how to make our communities more
resilient. His work will be focused on issues affecting the greater Los Angeles
area and the Central Valley.

"I am
proud to be working with Moms Clean Air Force. I am eager to join with
them in their efforts to educate and empower communities across California on
climate change and healthy communities,” Sigala said. “As the father of 2
beautiful daughters, I want to do my part in leaving them and future
generations a better planet and working with Moms Clean Air Force will help me
achieve that goal.”

Sigala comes to
MCAF with a proven background as a community leader and organizer, having
served as President of the Echo Park Neighborhood Council, as well as a Senior
Community Organizer and Legislative Deputy for Los Angeles City Councilman
Richard Alarcon and District Director for Assembly member Rudy Bermudez.

In uniting with
Hispanic parents—and voters--Sigala brings a critically important dimension to
our work. He joins us in supporting the many excellent activists already
working on this issue. Global warming is a problem of great urgency, and no one
cares more about the future of California’s children than their parents.